Paul O'Neil

Towards the end of last week we received the first news about this year’s Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix (GPHG) competition. Ahead of the announcement, I had the opportunity to speak to the director of the GPHG, Carine Maillard, about this year’s awards. Read my interview for the full story.

Among the changes for this year’s GPHG eligibility criteria is the explicit acceptance of smart watches in the Petite Aiguille (sub-8,000 Swiss franc) and Sports Watch categories. One such watch that we can expect to find among the candidates is the new Frédérique Constant Horological Smartwatch Notify Lady, which Michèle Brunner reviews later this week.

With a slightly less hectic diary after the SIHH and Baselworld, now is the time of year when I get chance to do one of my favourite professional activities: visiting watch factories! Officine Panerai’s relatively new production facility in Neuchâtel is definitely worth the visit and deserves several articles to cover its level of technology and strict quality standards. You can read the first, about quality, today.

The Cannes Film Festival starts this week and, as usual, there will be no shortage of high jewellery and fine timepieces on the wrists of the stars treading the red carpet. You can spot who’s wearing what in the regular updates to our special feature section. One watch and jewellery brand is, however, more closely associated with the festival than any other. Chopard celebrates 20 years of partnership with the festival this year, as the festival itself celebrates its 70th anniversary. The perfect opportunity for Camille Gendre to take a closer look at this partnership on Wednesday. The same day we jump from the arts to the highly complicated, as David Chokron looks at some of the most complicated timepieces on the market – the kind of watch that you need a doctorate to understand!